MIPS chairman appointed interim CEONews & Analysis 12/31/2009 Post a commentMIPS Technologies said its board of directors has appointed the company's chairman to act as interim CEO following the scheduled retirement of longtime president and CEO John Bourgoin.

South Korea closes NAND antitrust probeNews & Analysis 12/30/2009 Post a commentSouth Korea's Fair Trade Commission has closed a three-year investigation of NAND flash memory chip makers, saying it found no evidence that they were engaged in international price fixing, according to reports.

Analysis: To-do list for the next MIPS CEONews & Analysis 12/30/2009 2 commentsAs John Bourgoin, president and CEO at MIPS, retires on this Thursday, his successor will find plenty on his plate. The new chief's to-do list includes: defending its turf against ARM; further proliferating its cores in new markets; and re-energizing the company as a new offensive player in the IP processor market.

ITC issues final determination against TesseraNews & Analysis 12/30/2009 Post a commentThe U.S. International Trade Commission issued a final determination that Tessera Technologies failed to prove that its patents were infringed by some DRAM manufacturers and sellers, including Elpida Memory, Nanya Technology, Powerchip Semiconductor and ProMOS Technologies.

Broadcom settles stock options suit for $160MNews & Analysis 12/29/2009 Post a commentFabless chip vendor Broadcom said it has agreed in principle to settle the securities class action litigation pending against the company and some of its current and former officers and directors for $160.5 million in cash.

Company cranks portable wireless audio at CESNews & Analysis 12/29/2009 Post a commentEleven Engineering Inc. will jump into the pool of providers of wireless audio streaming technology at the Consumer Electronics Show with a set of dongles and speakers using its proprietary 2.4 GHz technology.

Germany launches national OLED research projectNews & Analysis 12/29/2009 1 commentGermany's BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) is providing support for a 14.7 million euro (about $21 million) project called So-Light, intended to accelerate the application of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) for lighting and signage.

The 10 most popular stories of 2009News & Analysis 12/29/2009 Post a commentHere are the top ten stories for 2009 as ranked by EE Times readers, up to and including Tuesday, Dec. 29. The ranking is based on the number of reader "views" or "hits" on a particular article.

TSMC surpasses '09 capex estimateNews & Analysis 12/28/2009 Post a commentFoundry giant TSMC appears all but certain to eclipse its most recent estimate for 2009 capital spending, thanks to an eye-popping $1.24 billion spent on equipment buys in December alone.

Analyst: Impact of FTC versus Intel overblownNews & Analysis 12/28/2009 Post a commentThe final impact of a suit brought by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission against Intel is likely to be less than what many expect, according to a Wall Street analyst, who rejected the notion that the courts would force the microprocessor giant to license modern x86 instruction sets to other firms.

Taiwan set to outspend Samsung on DRAM capex, says analystNews & Analysis 12/28/2009 Post a commentInotera Memories Inc. will triple its capital expenditure in 2010 to $1,385 billion as part of an effort by Taiwan DRAM manufacturers that will, in aggregate, eclipse the spending of market leader Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., according to DRAMexchange Technology Inc., a Taiwan-based market analysis company.

DRAM capex set to rise 80% in 2010, says analystNews & Analysis 12/28/2009 Post a commentCapital expenditure by DRAM makers will increase by 80 percent year-on-year to $7.85 billion in 2010, according to DRAMexchange Technology Inc., a Taiwan-based market analysis company. The company estimated the DRAM makers will spend $4.30 billion in 2009.

Hynix confirms 2010 capex increaseNews & Analysis 12/24/2009 Post a commentSouth Korean memory chip vendor Hynix Semiconductor has confirmed that it will increase its planned capital expenditure for 2010 to 2.3 trillion won (about $1.95 billion), according to reports, which cite a filing made by Hynix with the South Korea Stock Exchange.

Incomplete 3DTV products in CES spotlightNews & Analysis 12/23/2009 1 commentThe HDMI standard is getting an update to support broadcast stereo 3D content on new and existing links, one of many pieces of the puzzle still being put in place for the roll pout of 3DTV which will be a major focus at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Micron results: What analysts are sayingNews & Analysis 12/23/2009 1 commentMemory chip vendor Micron Technology Inc. recorded its first profit in three years during the period ended Dec. 3, topping Wall Street's expectations with sales of $1.74 billion.

Global sales were strong in November, says analystNews & Analysis 12/23/2009 Post a commentGlobal chip sales in November were strong according to analysts at Carnegie Group (Oslo, Norway). The average of September, October and November chip sales is expected to be reported as $22.5 billion versus $21.7 billion for the equivalent figure in October.

Nano vacuum tubes could make better batteries, or memoriesNews & Analysis 12/23/2009 2 commentsResearchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, reckon the vacuum tube could be basis of a high energy density battery, or a non-volatile memory. In theory arrays of nanometer-scale vacuum tubes should be able to achieve three times the energy density of lithium-ion batteries.